Kenny

Bundit (Kenny) Jiamanukoonkit does not believe that everyone is born a leader. “If you believe in consciousness and sub-consciousness, you will know that leadership traits can be embedded in a person if he/she has discipline to control his consciousness and sub-consciousness. If one can see the value and the trade-off of the hardship, one can put effort and discipline into building leadership behavior,” says the affable CEO. Bangkok-born Kenny heads a business considered one of the most competitive industries in Thailand, with more than 70 insurers in both life 
and non-life insurance. In a highly segmented market, Generali Life Assurance aspires to be their customers’ Lifetime Partner, covering them through all life stages and needs. The company has made good on its promise, as it is one of the top players in the market, and the most preferred insurer by hospitals. Additionally Generali boasts one of the largest hospital networks, with global employee benefit clients such as Nestle, Coca Cola, Adidas, KPMG, Microsoft, and DHL. Generali’s app, Gen365 is the number one insurance business app in Thailand, with over 230,000 members and more than 6,000 new members per month.


To continue being on top, Kenny’s challenge as a leader is to balance the benefits of all key stakeholders (customers, agents/brokers/partners, the company) while sustaining quality of the business with profitable growth for the 687-employee company. A variety of employee opinion surveys are conducted during the year to gain insight into the staff’s views of the company. Its 2017 engagement survey result showed that most Generali employees believed in the goals and objectives of the company, and fully support the values which Generali stands for. The Diversity and Inclusion Survey of 2019 saw 36.4 percent of employees feel they are very often or consistently being recognized, valued, and listened to at work, with 47.2 percent feeling they are usually recognized, valued, and listened to

“To me, important things that define a successful person must include impacting lives of people around you in positive way. This includes family members, your staffs, and your community. A successful person makes positive impact on his industry and society, makes good progress and delivers financial results and operational 
integrity, and has a good reputation in and outside his industry. The success of leaders is about using their mix of skills in various situations to get the best results while maintaining principles and integrity,” stresses Kenny, who is known for his listening and communications skills.

Generali’s Country Manager – a graduate in Computer Science from Srinakarintr University, Thailand, and an MBA-Finance & Management from Wichita State University, USA – says his education has helped him become more organized and structured. “Qualities a leader needs to have are selling/presentation/communication skills to influence stakeholders into believing and moving in the same direction. People skills are crucial as a leader’s achievements are not accomplished by themselves, but by and through people,” notes Kenny, who considers Howard Schultz of Starbucks one of his personal entrepreneurs of note.

“Qualities a leader needs to have are selling/presentation/communication skills to influence stakeholders into believing and moving in the same direction. People skills are crucial as a leader’s achievements are not accomplished by themselves, but by and through people,”

As he propels Generali ever upwards, Kenny is not only focusing on driving sales and market share. He is also aware of the importance of sustainable commitment to the communities and environment. Generali Group focuses on three main groups in need: disadvantage families, refugee starts-up and asphyxiated newborns, for whom the lack of medical equipment is a matter of life or death.